Apparatus for drying disintegrated material



April s 1924; 1,489,846 J. OCONNELL ET AL APPARATUS FQR DRYINGDISINTEGRATED MATERIAL AFiled Aug. so. 1921 JOSEPH OCONNELL AND flR-(BLDspaartip-v iii'ei WER, OF KENSINGTON, VICTORIA,

AUSTRALIA.

APPARATUS FOR BBYG DESNEGRATED MATERIAL.

Application filed August 30, 192i. YSerial No. 496,866.

To f/Z whom. t may concern.'

lie it known that we, JOSEPH OCONNELL and HAROLD HAMILTON linnn,subjects of the ling of Great Britain, residing at Macaulay Road,Kensington, in the State of Victoria.. Australia, have invented certainnew and useful improvements in Apparatus for Drying DisintegratedMaterial; and we do decla-re the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has been devised to provide a method of and means fordrying disintegrated material. Thermaterial during treatment falls somedistance within a vertical structure or tower from a delivery pointduring which it meets a current of hot air of a desired temperature.Such air as it ascends within the structure thoroughly intermingles withthe falling material causing the moisture or most of it to be absorbed,whichever desired. The material should receive preferably continuoustreatment for a. desired perioc.. i. e., according to the quality ofmaterial and dryness required: Provision is made for a continuousdischarge intermittently whereby the material is delivered at a pointfor collection.

ln order that our invention may be the more easily understood referencewill be made to the accompanying sheet of drawings in which- Figure l isa side sectional elevation showing apparatus embodied in our invention.v

Figure Zis a section on line 1 2 of Figi ure 1 whilst y Figure 3 showsin section the manner of constructing the screen members hereinafterreferred to.

We provide a towerlike structure e of suitable material and supported inany convenient manner. The structure may be of any desired heightaccording to requirements. Close to the floor b which is inolined, buton one side of said structure is an opening at the rear of which achamber c is disposed. VThis chamber is connected to any suitable sourceof heat. 0n the exterior of said tower and preferably at the top thereofin a central position is a suitable rotary fan o with a suction effectto provide and draw a draught of air from the heating element throughthe opening b into the structure or tower a, where it meets a number ofbaiiie or dire-:tor plates al of a desired configuration and preferablyar ranged diagonally to evenly distribute throughout the tower the airas it ascends. 0n reaching a point close to the top of the tower the airmeets a number of vertically disposed screens. constructed of frameworkcomprising solid ends c and top e with bottom slats e2, the materialbeing attached at the sides of the frame to provide two parallel sides fwith an opening f2 between the slats e2, the top being closed as statedbefore by the iiat plate e. The screens occupy nearly the full width ofthe upper portion g of the tower a and arearranged at intervals apart,the intervening space at the lower portion being closed by cross platesg. This arrangement compels the air during its circulation to enter theopening f2 between .the slats e2 and pass through the screening materialto the fan c. During its circula-tion after passing through the screensa portion of the air passes into the space above the screens thence tothe fan c whilst another portion passes directly to the screens. Thescreening material is preferably fabric woven to provide mesh which willprevent egress of the material during treatment, but at the same timeallows the air to freely circulate through on its way to thesuctional oreX- haust fan c. The material for treatment is fed into the hopper Lpreferably in a finely disintegrated condition. From the hopper it fallsinto the compartment h having an opening h2 for exit purposes, avertical sliding door ha closes such opening h2 when required. The ioorj of the compartment 7i in inclined, the angle being such that thematerial continues to pass downwardly and through the opening h2 whereit meets the buckets 7c of a suitable elevator or conveyor disposed atone side of the tower a, and such conveyor preferably consisting of theusual sprocket chain 7: running on upper and lower sprocket wheels Zetand las on shafts m m', the sprocket chains receiving motion throughdriving pulley ln on the shaft m. The material is conveyed by thebuckets 7c to the upper portion of the tower a below the screens whereit is discharged from the buckets lc as they make the turning or tippingmovement. The ma.- terial falling the fulllength of the tower into thetrough n to be again removed by the buckets lc. During its descent itmeets the ascending air whose temperature is yregulated to provide therequired degree of heat so that the material as it falls will be driedas desired, the pressure of the ascending hot air is also adjusted sothat it will not impede the material whilst falling. On the materialreceiving a predetermined treatment an adjustable chute 0 suspended onthe shaft 0 with actuating hpulley 02, is actuated and set at an angleto close the tower against the falling material as it is discharged fromthe buckets. The material now passes down the chute 0 to an opening p inthe wall ot the tower a, such opening j) being closed during` thetreatment by a ila-p door r on the shaft 7" with actuating pulley r2.The material when the door r is raised as shown in dotted lines passesthrough the opening 22 into a delivery chute s.

We would have it understood that we do not arbitrarily conne ourselves Ato the hereinbefore mentioned arrangement of parts as vsame may beamplified or modified without departing from the ambit of our invention.

We claim:

l. An apparatus for drying disintegrated material comprising a towerhaving a re-Y ceiving compartment provided with an inclined loory and anair inlet opening, arslid- 'ig door adapted to close the said inletopening, a bucket conveyor within the tower, a. plurality of baliieplates set at an angle in the tower adjacent said air inlet opening toevenly distribute air as the saine enters the tower` a fan placed on theexterior of the tower for circulating the air, and a plurality ofscreens disposed and arranged within the tower to provide spaces havinga lower opening and a closed top for air filtration purposes, the airduring its eirculation being directed to and passing through the saidscreens.

2. An apparatus for drying disintegrated material comprising a towerhaving a receiving compartment provided with an inlet opening and adischarge opening, a sliding door for the said inlet opening, a bucketconveyor within tthe tower, an adjustably suspended director chute, aflap door normally covering said discharge opening, and a delivery chuteextending from said discharge opening.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH OOONNELL. HAROLD HAMILTON KERR.

Witnesses:

AUGUSTINE THOMAS MADDEN, IVY DoNoHUE.

